Telephones have long been employed to facilitate communication among users geographically dispersed. The desire and need to stay in touch have proliferated the usage of the telephones. As of today, telephones may come in different forms. In an example, a telephone may be a desk telephone, a mobile telephone, a soft IP (internet protocol) telephone, and the likes.
In modern society, a user may be associated with one or more telephones. In an example, a user may have a desk telephone and a mobile telephone. To reach the user, a third-party caller may need to know the telephone numbers associated with each telephone. To facilitate the communication process, the user may associate both telephones with a specific telephone number; thereby, both telephones may simultaneously ring when an incoming call is received.
To facilitate discussion, FIG. 1 shows a simple block diagram of a pair switching relationship. Consider the situation wherein, for example, a third-party caller 102 on a telephone 104 wants to make a telephone call to a user 106 within an enterprise 110. User 106 may possess two telephones, a desk telephone 108 and a mobile telephone 112. When third-party user 102 makes a telephone call, the connection may travel along a path 120 to establish a connection between telephone 104 and a plurality of telephones (desk telephone 108 and mobile telephone 112) via a private branch exchange (PBX) system 114. In this example, both of the user's telephones (desk telephone 108 and mobile telephone 112) have been configured to ring when an incoming call is received at a specific extension. User 106 is able to hear the request for a telecommunication session because both telephones are ringing. Once user 106 picks up one of the telephones, such as desk telephone 108, the other telephone (e.g., mobile telephone 112) will stop ringing.
While conversing with third-party caller 102, user 106 may want to switch from desk telephone 108 to mobile telephone 112. To perform a switch, user 106 may push a button 116 located on the telephone currently being employed (i.e., desk telephone 108) to cause the other telephone (i.e., mobile telephone 112) to ring. To switch over to the other telephone, user 106 may pick up the ringing mobile telephone 112 and then replace desk telephone 108.
In order to perform the aforementioned switch, mobile telephone 112 is specifically paired up with desk telephone 108. Pairing of the telephones creates a one-on-one relationship between the two telephones. Configuration to pair the two telephones may be performed by the administrator of the enterprise telephone system. The administrator may also have to configure at least one of the buttons on each of the paired telephones to enable switching to occur. The configuration process is a complex process that may require time and resources, thereby causing increased workload to the technology department and increased expenses.
Since pairing configuration is specifically between two telephones, a third telephone is unable to benefit from the pair switching relationship. In an example, a third telephone, such as a desk telephone 150, is not part of the relationship and is unable to receive the incoming telephone call to the extension associated with the paired telephones. In order to establish a relationship between desk telephone 150 and one of the paired telephones (i.e., desk telephone 108 and mobile telephone 112), the relationship between the paired telephones must first be terminated. In an example, the pair switching relationship between desk telephone 108 and mobile telephone 112 may first have to be terminated before anew relationship may be established between mobile telephone 112 and desk telephone 150.
The current method of pairing telephones to enable switching is an inflexible method that limits the number of telephones to two devices. Further, the cost of maintaining a telecommunication system that support pair switching relationships may become expensive in term of time and resources expended. In an example, since a typical enterprise may experience changes due to human resource (e.g., hire new employees, layoff employees, fire employees, etc.) and/or technological resource (e.g., telephone upgrade, new telephone design, new type of telephones, etc.), the enterprise's technology department may have to dedicate a significant portion of time and resources to manage communication needs of the enterprise.
To enable more than two telephones to receive an incoming call, a call park and pickup method may be implemented. Consider the situation wherein, for example, an incoming telephone call is received by the telephones in the enterprise. In an example, all three telephones, desk telephone 108, mobile telephone 112, and desk telephone 150 receive the incoming call. When a user picks up desk telephone 108, a communication session is established between the third-party caller's telephone and the user's desk telephone.
During the telephone conversation, the user needs to get some information at another location, which is located near desk telephone 150. To switch over to desk telephone 150, the user may first have to put the call on hold (i.e., park the call) and dial the extension for desk telephone 150. Once desk telephone 150 rings, the user may pick up the call at desk telephone 150 to continue the conversation with the third-party caller.
The call park and pickup method generally requires that each telephone be assigned to a different extension number since the PBX system is unable to dial an extension that is currently in use. Also, the call park and pickup method usually requires the user to enter the new extension number when a switch is desired. Accordingly, not only does the user have to know the desired extension number to perform the switch, but the call park and pickup method may be subject to human error. In addition, privacy is not ensured since another caller may intercept the call when the call is being parked.